I mean, is there something wrong with doing it by GPS instead of routesheets? Why have DIY by GPS then?

DIY means 'do it yourself' - which you wouldn't really be doing, would you ?

This discussion has been played out many times on this forum. The gist of it is: if there's a perm you want to ride, you buy a brevet from the org and follow their route sheet or gpx files, getting whatever proof of passage they request. If you want to make your own ride up using DIY by GPS, you contact the relevant area org and submit relevant files to them.

What you're suggesting is taking an existing perm and passing it off as a DIY by GPS. If you believe that using someone else's work, local knowledge and experience in this way is ok, that's your choice.

What I'm saying is, Shawn's done all the hard work for you - why not just show some gratitude for all that work and get an ATM receipt every so often ? Is it really too much to ask ?

One thing I thought of this morning is that DIY money goes... where? whereas the Perm money goes to the actual route 'owner' so there's that fact I didn't consider.

I guess I was looking at it from a different angle - if the route is available I could just ride it outside of any AUK rules by myself with no issues, no knowledge of anyone, etc. Job done.

I thought I was doing the right thing by entering as DIYs so that AUK was getting the money for someone's mapping work.

I see your point about if the Perm exists I should ride that and that's what I've done in the past but in recent cases I've been using rides as training for TransAm so trying to minimise stop time and receipt collection makes this tricky. I guess I like the paperless DIYbyGPS thing because it's less hassle so I can do it last minute and it's more about the riding less about the paperwork but I'm was probably not approaching this from the POV of a typical audaxer. I'll have a look at the Perm.

I see your point about if the Perm exists I should ride that and that's what I've done in the past but in recent cases I've been using rides as training for TransAm so trying to minimise stop time and receipt collection makes this tricky. I guess I like the paperless DIYbyGPS thing because it's less hassle so I can do it last minute and it's more about the riding less about the paperwork but I'm was probably not approaching this from the POV of a typical audaxer. I'll have a look at the Perm.

Oh, how come rides like Crackpot aren't listed as Perms?

Hi,Have a chat with Shawn, if you fill in the times on the card, he might accept time-stamped photos taken on the fly of the controls as the evidence.

Regarding the crackpot, there's an admin overhead for organisers listing a ride as a perm producing brevet cards validating etc., I guess Shawn hasn't done it because until a few years ago virtually no one would have entered, and now he's too busy organising the calendar events ....and it is a monster with a lot of controls. He's been very supportive of helping people doing it the DIY way, because it doesn't exist as a perm.

If you enter the Hellfire perm, I've got GPX tracks for it if you PM your email address I can send them over. It's a great route.Andrew

One thing I thought of this morning is that DIY money goes... where? whereas the Perm money goes to the actual route 'owner' so there's that fact I didn't consider.

I guess I was looking at it from a different angle - if the route is available I could just ride it outside of any AUK rules by myself with no issues, no knowledge of anyone, etc. Job done.

I thought I was doing the right thing by entering as DIYs so that AUK was getting the money for someone's mapping work.

Of course you could just ride it without any AUK involvement, but this forum is probably not the place to ask about doing this The point I think you are missing is that AUK is a pretty devolved organistion - the money goes to the individual organiser, whether calendar, perm or DIY, and only a small amount (20p AFAIK) to AUK for validation.

I see your point about if the Perm exists I should ride that and that's what I've done in the past but in recent cases I've been using rides as training for TransAm so trying to minimise stop time and receipt collection makes this tricky. I guess I like the paperless DIYbyGPS thing because it's less hassle so I can do it last minute and it's more about the riding less about the paperwork but I'm was probably not approaching this from the POV of a typical audaxer. I'll have a look at the Perm.

I think what would be acceptable, but others may disagree, would be to get the perm from Shawn and then ride it as a DIY, but you are in effect paying twice then.

As a side note, it is slightly frustrating as an organiser when people do your ride but don't submit their card for validation, even if they completed it, as it makes the event look less popular than it really was.

Probably because there hasn't been the demand until recently, and it's a far bit of work setting up a perm as you have to ensure that you can get PoPs enroute which isn't that easy with a ride of this nature.

One thing I thought of this morning is that DIY money goes... where? whereas the Perm money goes to the actual route 'owner' so there's that fact I didn't consider.

I guess I was looking at it from a different angle - if the route is available I could just ride it outside of any AUK rules by myself with no issues, no knowledge of anyone, etc. Job done.

I thought I was doing the right thing by entering as DIYs so that AUK was getting the money for someone's mapping work.

I see your point about if the Perm exists I should ride that and that's what I've done in the past but in recent cases I've been using rides as training for TransAm so trying to minimise stop time and receipt collection makes this tricky. I guess I like the paperless DIYbyGPS thing because it's less hassle so I can do it last minute and it's more about the riding less about the paperwork but I'm was probably not approaching this from the POV of a typical audaxer. I'll have a look at the Perm.

Oh, how come rides like Crackpot aren't listed as Perms?

There is a group Crackpot soon (see separate thread). That would be great TransAm training (maybe). It's a group DIY by GPS based on an old calendar ride. Village halls are booked ... you could get proper sleep or two on the way. Worth a thought ?

There's also the Wu'ze (see upthread). It's an old one-off 400k calendar ride, not offered as a perm. No receipts required, just a route, track and an area org to validate it - if you want AUK points.

There are plenty of rides out there that have fallen by the wayside over time and are no longer offered as perms. Searching ridewithgps will possibly uncover plenty of gems, but it'd be worth checking the route for mistakes and unexpected off-road excursions. That's another aspect of signing up for a perm: the route's all checked out beforehand and any issues will be reported back to the org who can then make any necessary changes.

What are you doing for food & fluids on these rides btw - if you don't want to stop for receipts ? And I assume you're planning a route for the TransAm ? How are you doing that ?

Heading down from ooop north for the Porkers. Not being familiar with Poole, the information simply says the start is at the ferry terminal. Looking at the map (and street view) the dock area seems pretty big. Does anyone have a more precise location (post code, street name, grid reference etc) for the start. Also, what about parking ?? Is this at the ferry terminal ? I would have thought parking at the docks would have been for ferry customers and not for mad cyclists.

On Google maps, look for New Harbour Road South, Condor Ferries, Brittany Ferries Freight etc. - that's the area where folk have congregated in the past. Shawn has previously handed out the brevets just off the roundabout at the top of that loop.

Co-ordinates : 50.709625, -1.993254

There's a long stay car park there too. Can be pricey if you go over 24 hours ...

By the way - There's plenty of room for more riders on the group - Hippy, you and I have talked about it before. Best shot at the ride is coming up with a chance not having to sleep in a hedge! See seperate topic.

The weather forecast for Porkers has been varying from various wind and rain related extremes through this week. Currently it is looking quite ok ... a bit of rain until Portland, and a southerly wind turning SW/W later. Not too cold and not too warm.

Well that was fun, a bit of sea mist here and there. Great controls at west buckland ( the lovely ladies of the Wellington wheeler's) corscombe( reynholm of this Parrish and others) and winterbourne whitchurch( the lovely lady shaw junior compete with rice pub and syrup) thank you all so much. Plus thank you Shawn for putting the event on.

As it turned out the weather was so nice i could stop for a ice cream on the way back to poole

As it turned out the weather was so nice i could stop for a ice cream on the way back to poole

Postie your memory is clouded by the visit to the pub on the quay. Fun yes...Type 2. The 13 hours of rain helped me identify the holes in my tubes at least😁. This is where those great controls are best appreciated. The TLC , The radiators, the hot grub. Thanks everyone. Bring on the Brimstone.

Late now, and not long home back to Wirral, so I will write more later. On the fun-ometer I will give that 2. It was grim. Borderline hypothermic and West Buckland and decided to pack and no doubt the right decision notwithstanding mechanical problems. Nothing but praise for those guys at the control who went beyond the call to look after me.

Yes it was very grim for the first 13 hours or so. When you are wet for so long everything just gets too cold. I felt for the guys I saw changing into dry clothes at one of the village halls only to immediately get soaked again. The warm food (I've never eaten so much onan Audax), friendly welcome and heaters at the stops were much appreciated. For a girl who hates hills (too much ballast not enough practise), I feared the climbs would finish me off (especially with London Wales London in my legs from the day before). The 1:4 climb luckily came early on and apart from one or two other hills I made it to the top without putting a foot down. But it was the steep descents (20% in places) into the fog (do not being able to see the road) on narrow twisty lanes with stones and potholes that were the hardest. Aside from 2 mechanicals (left crank fell off on a climb and one puncture I just couldn't fix) I managed OK though, mostly riding solo, some parts with others (sorry forgot names). The Crockerton stop by the lake was lovely and I had warmed up enough to even enjoy an ice cream. The long descent into Poole was great fun as I found a well matched rider for a 2-up time trial pace to the end. Another ice cream at the finish followed by the hardest challenge of all: the drive home. A big thanks to Shawn and all his helpers. I may be back for more Wessex rides next year as there is only one way to start loving them more. Jasmijn.

Well for that was the hardest Audax to date. Not the distance or the climbing , but the weather . When you're not fast you have to factor in the clockwatching and you don't have long stays at controls. So when you are shivering so much your forks are wobbling its hard ,it is so hard to keep going. So I thank god for the Corscombe control. I had a lucky puncture ( yes I know) 1k from the control and I decided to push it there rather than struggle in the wet etc. At Corscombe they ushered me in took my bike from me to mend puncture OMG !!! Not only that they sorted out... my brakes as I'm mechanical dofus . Hot Food and welcoming faces allowed me to continue this ride into the night , to the next oasis in the rain . Manned Controls .........I thank you from the bottom of my Sodden Heart

I packed after 120K for the second year running. The ride goes within a couple of miles of home and when my teeth start chattering...I'll attempt the perm later this summer in glorious sunshine. PM me if you're interested. I'd love some company.

Epic.Postie's description of the weather is only because he had such jolly riding companions to take his mind off it.Enormous thanks to Smeth for suggesting in the Co-op at Beaminster to put some newspapers down our jerseys. Two copies of the Racing Post made a massive difference until we got to the next control where I could put on a spare base layer. The badgers from last year were replaced by frogs , slugs and snails out to enjoy the conditions. The badgers had too much sense.The ride brought back memories of last year's Highlands and Glens ride where we experienced some quite interesting precipitation but we were wetter in Wessex than we were in Scotland ,as the rain lasted longer here.I rode with Parky and Smeth both of whom have ridden Porkers as Perm on their own and , unless the conditions are perfect, I think that is very impressive, since, as others have already said, those overnight halls , are magnificent at any time but especially when the weather is tough.I pulled out of my jacket a piece of the sticky ginger flapjack from the first stop some time on Monday morning -quite superb.So, thanks again to the inscrutable Shawn and all of his helpers for giving up their time and effort to give us all a great ride. The welcome we received from everyone was wonderful . Genuine warmth. Thanks also to all the people I rode with - the company and chat always for me contribute so much to an event -and particularly when it is a little more challenging , which most of us, Postie excepted, seem to have found it.